Government has no intention of introducing any new laws to legalise abortion in this country.
This according to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh even as there is now a confirmed link between the Zika virus and microcephaly.
Deyalsingh said this was no reason for local authorities to adopt a different stance.
He spoke to reporters at the launch of the Central Registry on Domestic Violence yesterday.
The minister said the confirmation of the medical link of birth defects and the mosquito-borne virus was yet another reason that both government and citizens had to step up their game to ensure their properties and surroundings were clean.
He said he was saddened by the lack of response from individuals who refused to keep their properties clean by eliminating possible breeding sources. “Government can’t come inside your home and your bedrooms where the Aedes aegypti mosquito lives and bites during the day,” he said.
Deyalsingh said amendments to the Yellow Fever Regulations were the only legislative changes they intended to make—with errant home-owners now facing the threat of increased fines from $1,500 to $3,500.
Pressed to respond to the renewed calls for expectant mothers to be given the option of abortion if their baby was diagnosed with microcephaly, Deyalsingh dismissed it simply as “talk.”
“There is talk but the government’s position remains crystal clear and we support the law as it stands,” he said. He said Sections 56 and 57 of The Offences Against the Person Act specifically outlined the charges that can be brought against anyone who procures an abortion—but which also addressed the circumstances in which abortion was permissible in order to save the mother’s life.
He continued that the Code of Ethics under the Medical Board of T&T was also very clear that abortions were only permissible to protect the mother’s physical, mental and psychological well being.
“The Government’s position is not to change the law to allow abortion on demand for Zika, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and physical deformities because we’ll start a very slippery slope,” he said.
Stressing that the ministry had already developed protocols to treat pregnant women diagnosed with Zika, Deyalsingh said they had now moved a step further by developing protocols for the treatment of children born with microcephaly.
Revealing that a doctor attached to the Sangre Grande Hospital has been charged with this responsibility, the minister said he was expecting a report by next week.
He added that a stakeholder meeting will be held on Tuesday to roll-out an extensive campaign to all hospitals, county medical officers, health centres, nurse and midwives about the new protocols.